


Interlude

by Mijumaru



Series: Hurt/Heal [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, gabe is fixed and in pain, this is reaper on the cusp of being the constantly-in-pain angry misty edgelord we all know and love, wow guess what it's bittersweet fluff again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 01:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7020961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mijumaru/pseuds/Mijumaru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel gets patched up after a mission gone bad. He needs some extra help to feel better though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Interlude

"How are you holding up?"

"... Morrison?"

"Yeah, it's me."

His body ached all over, down to his eyelids. It was like they were fused together, and the smallest effort made them feel like they were being tugged off. The bright light of the infirmary needled through them, and his head was entirely hollow. His throat felt raw.

With resignation, he started taking stock of the situation. His name was Gabriel Reyes, commander of the Blackwatch ops. Good, he could still remember that. He'd gotten too careless in his last mission. The organization his unit had infiltrated were less than happy to find them. Sure, he'd been a little reckless, but it had never gotten him into trouble before.

Not to mention he had something to prove.

Weakly he turned his neck to face his visitor.  Morrison. Complicated feelings stirred in his heart. Jack Morrison, strike commander of the main Overwatch organization. Jack, his best friend.

Well, he wouldn't put it in such sweet terms himself. He suspected Morrison wouldn't either, any more.

"What are you doing here, _Commander?_ " Gabriel enunciated the man's title with undisguised venom, his mood deflating. _Fucking embarrassing._

"Well, I'm sorry for wanting to make sure you were still alive." In a huff, Jack made to leave.

Gabriel's weak voice stopped him. "The mission."  

"Who cares about that?!" Jack spun around to grab Gabriel's wrists, his knuckles white. Startled, he stopped himself and sat back down. Dark bags were stark against his dulled blue eyes.. "You've been out for two weeks."

He slowly became aware of bandages wrapped around his head. Most of his body, in fact. _Those punks really did a number on me,_ he thought self-deprecatingly. "Just tell me about the mission, Morrison." The shreds of his dignity, all swaddled up like an infant, depended on it.

Jack's expression hardened, and his voice turned cool and professional. "After you were captured, your unit managed to track you down and eliminate the Jackknife gang, as planned. One member got away, but he shouldn't pose a threat alone. Fine work as usual." He couldn't agree with Gabriel's violent methods, regardless of how necessary they might be, but it wasn't appropriate to bring that up now.

Gabriel grunted sarcastically. He'd spent days in that grungy, rust-smelling hellhole.  With shame and anger, Gabriel thought about how they'd broken him, how he'd squealed like a pig. But he was loathe to admit that now, especially to Morrison.

Maybe his team had put enough fear into that one poor soul's heart that he wouldn't dare expose them. The dark underbelly of Overwatch, that Gabriel had convinced Jack to make and let him head so long ago.  He was sure Jack regretted that now.

Gabriel quickly changed the subject. "How bad is it?"

Hardly any of his skin was visible between plaster and blankets, but the parts that were visible looked like death. Angela had said she had to resort to some desperate measures to keep him alive, and it sure showed. "You look pretty terrible." he admitted with a wry smile.

"I _feel_ pretty terrible."

Absolutely and utterly godawful, if he was being honest. It was like he would dissolve away, his skin itching and crawling like it was alive, trying to run away on scrabbling claws. More alive than he himself felt. But he felt so strangely calm and panicked at the same time, his heart beating too softly and slowly in his throat.

His skin felt so moist under the bandages. A weak hand came up to try and pull them off, tapping uselessly against his ears.

"Morrison, do me a favor."

"Yeah?"

“Help me with these."

"Angela won't-"

"I don't fucking care, help me take these off." His entire being felt restless, and the confines of the cotton and gauze around him was just making him hyperventilate, almost suffocate from being trapped with himself.  "I'll tell her I did it myself, you fucking boy scout. Do it fast. I can't breathe."

That goaded him into complying against his better judgment. Gabriel winced under his hands, and Jack felt darkly that maybe he deserved it. As more and more came off, Jack's nostrils filled with an indescribable, pungent scent. It was sickly sweet, like bile and wine. Though Gabriel definitely hadn't been able to shower in a week, it didn't smell like it was that.

Jack recoiled at the sight of his face. It was actually much more intact than he would have expected, given how he'd looked when they'd found him, but Gabriel's skin almost seemed to shimmer, puckered wounds covering almost every inch. His eyes were crusted over. He looked away, but was still determined to finish the job. Gabriel's neck and arms weren't any better, and he was shivering violently now.

Without the bandages, Gabriel was cold, so cold. People often whispered that the members of Blackwatch had hearts of ice, and he was almost scared in that moment that it was becoming true. Fingers that were numb and sore at the same time clasped at the thin hospital gown helplessly. "Freezing..." He whispered despite himself, groaning as he drew his aching body in.

Jack jumped up, the stool clattering, and he grabbed a sterile blanket from a cabinet, wrapping it around Gabriel's trembling body. It hardly subsided. Gabriel felt like all the heat in his body was escaping violently now, unbidden tears softening the wax around his eyes. "Not enough..." He rasped. Four or five more blankets did little more to help.

"There aren't any more. Stay still, I'll go get Angela-"

"Don't!" Gabriel slammed his hands on the railing of the bed. His eyes had shot open, dangerously red blood vessels spiderwebbing through them like angry fingers. They were almost visibly pulsing. Something felt very, very wrong, and the thought of the doctor touching him again made his stomach drop. "Ugh, Christ... Just don't."

"What the hell do you want me to do then?! You clearly need a doctor!"

"No. You just help me."

"What do you expect _me_ to do?!"

Gabriel racked his brain. "Take your clothes off."

Jack let out a yelp of confusion, protectively pulling his arms up around him.

"Don't get so fucking excited. I'm cold. Like for hypothermia." It was a half-lie. The cold was physical, like little icicles pushing into him, but there was also a sense of loneliness and dread gripping his chest. Despite everything between them, he was possessed with an instinctual yearning for the feeling of Jack's familiar body pressed up against him, his clouded mind unable to think of anything else.

"I really think you need a doctor."

"I think _I_ know what I need, Morrison. What, you're just gonna let me suffer?"

"You know that's not--"

"Then hurry the fuck up."

"Just my shirt." Jack grumbled. He started removing his clothes, folding them up neatly and piling them on the stool. Neither of them made eye contact. "Move over."

Gabriel obliged, and Jack slid gingerly into the bed next to him. It was cramped now, and still too cold. But still, he reflexively leaned against him, his heaving breaths slowing down slightly.

Gabriel's skin stuck to him, clammy and unpleasant. The sickly smell was even stronger now that he was up close, but a sense of duty that him there. Something about it was comforting, too. It had been awhile since they'd been close, emotionally or physically. His mouth hardened at the thought. "Better?"

"Maybe if you kiss it." Gabriel managed to joke through gritted, chattering teeth, his lips stretched thinly across them in a crooked smile.

"Prick."

"Don't give me sass, Morrison. I'm injured in the line of duty. You should be giving me a medal."

 _Just do your goddamn job properly next time,_ Jack wanted to shoot back. For covert ops, he was always hearing about how Gabriel threw himself into the thick of battle like he had a death wish. But he bit his tongue. He pulled himself away slightly, gruffly raising his arm behind Gabriel's head in a silent offer.

Gabriel hadn't meant for Jack to take him seriously, but he gratefully shuffled closer anyway. The slight pressure of the other man's touch on his shoulders burned his skin. Only his skin. It did little to help the coldness radiating from his core.

To his surprise, Jack wrapped his arm around him tightly, pulling him in. "You've stopped shivering." He murmured, voice suddenly gentle. Truth be told, Gabriel had just frozen up at the luridly familiar touch, but as Jack's nostalgic scent permeated his entire being, he could feel himself growing calmer. _Pride be damned._ He turned deliberately, bones creaking with effort, and pressed his face into Jack's neck to breathe him in more deeply. Jack's quickening heart beat hard on his nose. He sounded nervous. "Don't your wounds hurt?"

"Nah." Gabriel lied. He could keep his mind off it this way. He missed the sensation of Jack's skin on his, though he'd never admit it out loud.

"Good, I guess." Jack was quiet for a moment. "I don't we should do this, Ga- Reyes."

"If you leave, I'm gonna die."

"No, you're not."

"I'm going to freeze to death and you're gonna be sorry."

Gabriel's fingers were shaking slightly on his waist again. He could swear that sickly sweet smell was getting stronger. "Fine. You could just be honest and say you want a hug."

"Shut up..." Gabriel mumbled. He was drifting away, like parts of him were being softly sheared off by Jack's warm breath on his scalp. His grip tightened, fear lacing his voice, but he couldn't stop himself from feeling sleepy. "Don't you fucking dare leave."

"Yeah, I get it already." With a bit of hesitation, he rubbed the back of Gabriel's neck. _I shouldn't do this_. But Gabriel's clinging, vulnerable body against his filled him with wistfulness, and even now, even after all that had happened between them, he found it hard to say no. At the end of the day, he wanted his best friend back.

And who knew, maybe it could happen.

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted at http://mijumaru.co.vu/post/145130398250/an-actual-part-2-chronologically-idk . fun fact this almost had a really bad necrophiliac-esque end but i ended cutting all of that


End file.
